Grünhain-Beierfeld is a town in the district of Erzgebirgskreis in Saxony, Germany lying 8 km east of Aue. It came into being on 1 January 2005 through the merger of the town of Grünhain and the community of Beierfeld. Geography Location The town lies in the northeast of the district. The highest point in the municipal area is the Spiegelwald (forest) at 738 m above sea level. Neighbouring communities In the north, the town borders on Zwönitz, in the east on Elterlein, in the south on Raschau, in the southwest on Schwarzenberg and in the west on Bernsbach and Lößnitz. Constituent communities Grünhain-Beierfeld has three of these: Beierfeld Grünhain Waschleithe History Beierfeld The area around Beierfeld was settled in the 12th century. As with most other places in the Ore Mountains, Beierfeld was laid out as a forest village (Waldhufendorf). The town's name hints at Bavarian colonists (the first two syllables, “Beier” are pronounced the same way as the German word Bayer, which means “Bavarian”). In 1233, Beierfeld became a monastic domain with Meinhard II of Wirbene's endowment of the Grünhain Monastery. The abbot at Grünhain thereby held jurisdiction over the community until the Reformation and he received rent and socage from it. When mining came, however, the transition from a purely agricultural community to an industrially based one began. The cutlery makers’ rising fortunes in the 17th and 18th centuries, as well as the plating industry's in the 19th century, established the town's main fields of business. From beginnings in producing handmade house and kitchen machines grew factory production in large enterprises by the beginning of the 20th century. Grünhain Grünhain had its first documentary mention in 1150. The location on the salt road from Halle (Saale) to the Preßnitzer Pass and on to Bohemia convinced Cistercian monks to come and found a monastery here. In 1276, Grünhain was granted town rights. Until the 15th century, the monastery extended its sphere of influence, mainly through donations. At the onset of the Reformation, the monastery held sway over more than 56 villages and three towns. The Reformation and the Thirty Years' War were the monastery's downfall. Waschleithe Waschleithe had its first documentary mention in 1531. Already by the 13th century, mining had begun in the Oswald Valley, where Waschleithe lies. Besides silver, tin and iron, marble was also later quarried. Mining continued until 1920. Mining also yielded the place's name,